Sunday, February 1, 2009

PETA Schizophrenic Messaging for Sharks

A few months ago we had a few things to say about the ill conceived and ill timed PETA Shark Week campaign featuring this image.

This week PETA announced a pro shark campaign in Florida to coincide with annual shark migrations and the negative hyper media that usually follows in it's wake.

This smart media tactic piggybacks on a natural shark event and effectively allows PETA to insert it's messaging into the local conversation.

Singer Island, Fla. -- The annual migration of hundreds of sharks off the South Florida coast has prompted PETA to create a pro-shark banner that will fly over Singer Island's beaches on Saturday from 12 noon to 3 p.m.The banner, which reads, "Sharks Aren't the Only Predators. GoVegetarian!," is part of PETA's campaign to raise awareness about the plight of sea animals who are killed for food.
Every year, more than 50 million sharks and billions of other sea animals are killed and consumed by humans, while sharks killed fewer than a dozen people last year.

PETA wants those who are concerned about predators in the water to think about the terror and pain that sharks experience as they bleed to death after their fins are hacked off to be made into "delicacies" such as shark-fin soup and shark steak. Many species of shark and other fish have been decimated by overfishing. According to an international team of scientists, 29 percent of fish species have "collapsed," or declined by 90 percent.

"Sharks are much more likely to be attacked by humans than the other way around," says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. "The most dangerous predators of all can be found lined up at the all-you-can-eat seafood buffet."